Razorbacks thump Gators 5-1

Saturday

Apr 28, 2012 at 9:46 PM

With another key starter sidelined, Florida couldn't get much going Saturday night against Arkansas.

By Kevin BrockwayStaff writer

Florida held a brief team meeting in the dugout shortly after its 5-1 loss to Arkansas on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium.“Really we’ve just got to lock in and focus,” Florida righty reliever Keenan Kish said. “We need a consistent effort from everybody on both ends of the ball, pitching and hitting. We need to be able to string together some hits and some big innings.”Kish was one of the few bright spots for the Gators, throwing a career-high four innings of scoreless relief. But with another key starter sidelined, Florida couldn’t get much going against the Razorbacks. The Gators (33-10, 12-7 SEC) played without starting shortstop Nolan Fontana, who sat out the game with the stomach flu.“I have not talked to him yet,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I’m hoping he’ll be ready to go (today), but I can’t really answer that at this point.”With Fontana out, O’Sullivan was forced to shuffle his lineup, moving center fielder Daniel Pigott to the leadoff spot. Austin Maddox moved up from seventh to fifth in the order and played first base.With the score tied at 1, the Gators unraveled in the top of the fifth, allowing four runs on six Arkansas hits. Florida didn’t help itself in the field during the inning, committing two errors.Florida lefty starter Brian Johnson started the game strong, striking out the side in order in the second inning. Of his first 26 pitches, 19 were strikes.But Johnson and the rest of the Gators struggled during the fifth. Arkansas shortstop Tim Carver led off the inning with a single, moved up to second on a groundout and scored on an error when newly inserted left fielder Jeff Moyer failed to cleanly field a single from first baseman Dominic Ficociello.Ficociello stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Mike Reynolds, putting Arkansas up 3-1. The Razorbacks (30-13, 10-10 SEC) added two more runs on RBI singles from Brian Anderson and John Clay Reeves.Johnson (5-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts.“He fell behind in the count a little bit,” O’Sullivan said. “And that’s what happens. Balls seem to find holes when you fall behind 1-0, 2-1.”Offensively, Florida couldn’t solve Arkansas reliever Brandon Moore, who pitched five innings of scoreless relief. Moore allowed just three hits and struck out two batters. “Moore executed his pitches,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s been a weekend starter for them before ... he’s got a good sinker and a good breaking ball and threw the ball really well, and their defense was really, really good tonight.”Arkansas jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on an RBI single from Ficociello. The Razorbacks could have scored more runs, but with the bases loaded, left fielder Vickash Ramjit robbed Arkansas of three runs with a diving catch of a Bo Bigham drive on the warning track in left-center. Ramjit jammed his shoulder on the play and left the game for Moyer in the fifth inning.Florida tied the score in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Johnson. The Gators had another chance to score, but Preston Tucker was thrown out at home trying to score on a Maddox single up the middle. Arkansas center fielder Jacob Morris made a perfect throw to the plate.In a curious move during the third inning, O’Sullivan had All-American catcher Mike Zunino attempt a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second and no outs. Zunino, who finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, popped out to the pitcher attempting to sacrifice.“We’ve had trouble scoring runs, and I just felt like tonight’s game, whoever scored three or four would have a good chance to win,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what I felt like at that point, and it ended up being close to that with five runs. With their pitching staff, you’re not going to get too many opportunities.”Florida will look to salvage the series win today at 3:30 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. Florida sophomore righty Jonathon Crawford will face Arkansas junior righty D.J. Baxendale.Notes: Florida third baseman Josh Tobias returned to the starting lineup for the first time since March 23 against South Carolina. Tobias went 1 for 2 with a single and was hit by a pitch. … Tucker extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the third inning. … Before the game, Florida observed a moment of silence for former UF swim coach Ron Ballatore, who died Friday of cancer at 71.